Latest Blue Bomber move has a George Costanza feel

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This article was published 26/10/2015 (3729 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If every instinct the Winnipeg Blue Bombers organization has had over the last 25 years has led us to where it stands today — in the second year of yet another 12-23, playoff-free era — then perhaps it is prudent to take a lesson from George Costanza in the 86th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, titled, The Opposite.

In what has to be one of the greatest airings of all time, George, with many traits similar to the Blue Bombers hierarchy of today, has come to a reckoning and crossroad in his life. After some time for reflection at the beach, George realizes all the instincts he has had in his life that led him to become an overweight, unemployed, single, bald man who lives with his parents, have been completely wrong. So for the rest of the episode George contemplates what he would normally do in every scenario he experiences, and does the complete opposite, with astonishingly positive results.

While this example is a little extreme to recommend verbatim to the current brass of Bomberville — giving raises and contract extensions to this staff would be the opposite of common sense — the path they appear to be taking for 2016 is the opposite of what many of their predecessors were granted, and certainly contradicts the logic of the moment.

Not since the Dave Ritchie era has a coaching regime been awarded a third year after back-to-back losing seasons. Yet with Ritchie, he went to the playoffs in his second losing season in 2000, and it wasn’t until he turned in a 14-win season in 2001 the Bombers extended his contract.

Every coaching conglomerate since Ritchie was let go midway through the 2004 season has been held to a higher standard and expectation of achievement, yet this franchise still has little to show for it, outside of Grey Cup appearances.

Jim Daly took over part way through 2004, but was unable to stick very long, lasting just one campaign before he got his walking papers — a 2005 season in which the Bombers were a dismal 5-13. Doug Berry was up next, made the playoffs all three years, including a Grey Cup appearance in 2007, but was released after regressing to 8-10 in 2008. Mike Kelly missed the playoffs the following year and was canned and Paul LaPolice was fired in 2012, just a year removed from a Grey Cup appearance in 2011. Lastly, Tim Burke was fired after a 3-15 season in 2013, which brings us to the current staff.

What makes professional football so compelling to many are the strategies behind self preservation in one of the most ruthless and competitive industries in the world. While it would surprise no one if management decides to sacrifice their offensive co-ordinator this off-season — a move that will most certainly be done to appease the masses — what is surprising is it has already been leaked, even before the season has ended, head coach Mike O’Shea, the man responsible for getting the most out of his players, need not concern himself about his candidacy for next year.

Bottom line: this is an incredibly bad time to informally announce this kind of news, given the fact the water of this regular season hasn’t even finished swirling the porcelain yet, and the fans are still fuming. Hitting them over the head with a leak things aren’t going to be any different next year at the top — before the year has even ended — is a definite infraction for piling on to a fan base already irate and beyond frustrated. Fans would be much better served if management were to provide some pause in the off-season, enough time for the supporters to think they may actually be considering making changes, even if they aren’t.

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Lastly, and probably the biggest surprise, is the leaking of this decision is the opposite of job security for upper management.

By endorsing a third year for O’Shea, when the first two have been poor, it expands the scope of scrutiny going forward. When a coaching staff is relieved of its duties, a GM and CEO become insulated by the next group they hire. New coaching staffs in the CFL most often mean two more years of tolerance before people start looking up the ladder again for accountability. So by indirectly announcing the leader of this regiment will be given a third chance to get it right — in spite of results that suggest otherwise — more decision makers have thrown their names into the culpability hat for 2016.

This is certainly the opposite of what has been done in the past, and counter- intuitive to a degree, but if nothing else has worked thus far, is it time to wait and see?

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97